Pensions Archives - Word on Benefits

The Multiemployer Retirement Plan Landscape Report: DB Key Findings

Cathe Gooding

25 Mar 202525 Mar 2025

The overall health of multiemployer defined benefit (DB) retirement plans improved from 2020 to 2021. The average multiemployer DB plan net investment return for 2021 was 14.5%, up from 2020 (11.4%), according to The Multiemployer Retirement Plan Landscape: A 15-Year Look (2007-2021) recently […]

Employee Benefits Legislative Pensions Regulatory Retirement U.S.

Automation Speeds Up Social Security Fairness Act Processing

Jenny Gartman, CEBS

07 Mar 202507 Mar 2025

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has sped up implementation of the Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA) using automation, per Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security. The law requires SSA to adjust benefits for over three million people, the bulk of which […]

Canada Employee Benefits Financial Wellness Pensions

Burnout, Productivity and Pensions

Eli Argueta

27 Feb 202505 Mar 2025

Many workers nearing retirement—especially women—don’t have enough saved amid rising costs of living and housing anxiety. Despite inflationary pressures, workers remain willing to pay for a pension. Conversely, employers are generally in a stronger position as the labour market softens, with confidence […]

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What Public Pension Plans Need to Know About the Social Security Fairness Act

Jenny Gartman, CEBS

30 Jan 202530 Jan 2025

Signed into law on January 5, 2025, the Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA) (HR 82) repeals two provisions that reduce Social Security benefits for some individuals who receive other benefits, such as certain state or local government pension benefits. The Social Security […]

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CAPSA Guidelines: A Comprehensive Overview of Pension Plans

Eli Argueta

14 Oct 202414 Oct 2024

On September 9, the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA) released new guidance aimed at providing an update on the design, operation and administration of capital accumulation plans (CAPs). CAPs include defined contribution pensions, Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs), Tax-Free Savings […]

Canada Pensions Retirement

It’s Time to Retire the Concept of Retirement

Eli Argueta

02 Jul 202402 Jul 2024

For many, retirement is seen as the final chapter of life—a culmination of years of hard work and savings. But what if retirement wasn’t an end but rather a beginning filled with new opportunities? Over the last decade, more research and innovative […]

Defined Benefit (DB) Plans DOL Employee Benefits Investments Multiemployer Pensions Retirement U.S.

The Multiemployer Retirement Plan Landscape: DB Takeaways

Justin Held, CEBS

24 Jun 202426 Jun 2024

According to recent data from Horizon Actuarial Services, LLC and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, the fifteen-year period between 2006 and 2020 was turbulent for multiemployer defined benefit (DB) pension plans. Financial markets were volatile, and 2008 saw the biggest […]

401(k) Plans Compliance DOL Employee Benefits ERISA ERISA50 Legislative Pensions Retirement U.S.

The DOL Retirement Security Final Rule: Highlights for Plan Sponsors

Jenny Gartman, CEBS

20 Jun 202420 Jun 2024

On April 25, 2024, the Department of Labor (DOL) published the retirement security final rule defining fiduciary status for investment advice to retirement investors under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). It is set to […]

Canada Employee Benefits Pensions

Target Benefit Plans: An Update on Where They Stand

Amanda Wilke, CEBS

14 Dec 2023

Although target benefit pension plans have been in a state of unknown for a while, they are now closer to having a permanent funding model with several new proposals currently under consideration. In 2015, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions […]

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Compliance DOL Employee Benefits ERISA PBGC Pensions U.S.

Where We Are Now: Special Financial Assistance Under the American Rescue Plan Act

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

28 Mar 202328 Mar 2023

From capital market return expectations to the rules that cover the program, a lot has changed in the two years since the American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law and created the Special Financial Assistance (SFA) program for struggling multiemployer pension […]